thanks for watching. we hope to see you again in one hour. this is "world news." tonight, the debate drama. the president tries to rally after mitt romney's big night. what insiders tell us today about why the president was off his game. breaking news. those loose passenger seats force american airlines to ground 48 planes tonight, causing even more delays and cancelled flights. health alert. a mysterious outbreak of meningitis, deaths, serious illness. and it's linked to a treatment for back pain which was somehow contaminated. real money. can we put thousands of dollars in your pocket right now? doubling the value of that old car in your driveway.

good evening. we begin with that question we heard asked across the country today. what was going on with president obama at the big debate with governor mitt romney last night? we have learned that 67.2 million americans were watching last night and governor romney came out swinging. the president seemed to be dodging the fight. with only 33 days to go until your voice, your vote, why was the president off his game? has the whole race changed today? we'll start with abc's jake tapper, he is in wisconsin, traveling with the president tonight. jake? >> reporter: good evening, diane. yes, that performance by the president that one former democratic party chairman referred to as lethargic, disinterested and passive, was the talk of the campaign today. campaign aides say they don't have any explanation as to why the president was the way he was, other than a general inclination to play it safe, but however cold his performance may have left even some supporters last night, today, the president

came out with some fire. before a crowd of 12,000 in denver, the president tried to turn his opponent's polished debate performance into proof of his phoniness. >> when i got onto the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year, promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that favor the wealthy. >> reporter: but in the audience, many of the president's supporters expressed bewilderment at his passive performance last night. >> i felt like he should have been more aggressive. >> i didn't understand the strategy. i thought, you know, i wondered what was going on. >> reporter: sources tell abc news the president's strategy was a calculated decision not to risk appearing un-presidential by attacking romney on, say, that video insulting 47% of the country as irresponsible victims. his aides advised him to focus on policy, such as romney's

effort to distance himself from his own tax proposal. >> for 18 months, he's been running on his tax plan, and now five weeks before the election, he's saying that his big, bold idea is "never mind." >> reporter: but now, top democrats and liberal pundits bemoan a missed opportunity. >> i don't know what he was doing out there. he had his head down. he was enduring the debate, rather than fighting it. >> it looked like romney wanted to be there and president obama didn't want to be there. >> reporter: some even blamed denver's high elevation for the president's performance. >> when you go to 5,000 feet -- >> exactly. >> and you only have a few hours to adjust -- >> that's interesting. >> i don't know. >> reporter: last night, the president spent much time looking down at his podium, taking notes. and he squandered easy opportunities to go after romney, such as this moment. >> i like pbs, i love big bird. i actually like you, too. but i'm not going to spend money on things to borrow money from china to pay for. >> reporter: a wide opening, but the president took more than 14 hours to come up with a comeback.

>> thank goodness somebody is finally getting tough on big bird. it's about time. >> reporter: many top democrats suggest that one of the problems, maybe one common to incumbents, the president has lived in a bubble for four years, surrounded by adulation, rarely challenged. the campaign today acknowledged they were going to conduct a reassessment before the next debate. diane? >> all right, thank you, jake. and what about governor romney and his day? abc's david muir traveling with the governor in virginia. david? >> reporter: diane, great to see you from virginia. mitt romney expected to appear here just moments from now, and beside him, paul ryan, taking a break from his own debate prep to celebrate romney's debate last night. tonight, new questions about whether or not romney is trying to modify his message a bit with that much larger audience. starting onto a different denver stage today, mitt romney, his sons leading the applause, reveling in their father's debate performance. >> the american people last night were given a choice.

>> reporter: just how did romney get ahead last night? by aggressively taking on the president, part of the romney strategy, going into the debate. moments like this one. as the two debated the debt, that bipartisan plan that got nowhere in washington. >> but in my view, the president should have grabbed it, if he wanted to make some adjustments to it, take it, go to congress, fight for it. >> that's what we've done. made some adjustments and we're putting it forward to congress right now. >> but you've been president four years. >> reporter: but on that stage, in front of a much broader audience than usual, romney doing something else last night. appearing more moderate than the red meat offered up on the campaign trail or in the primaries. on cutting taxes, even for the rich, the tone, different. during the primary -- >> i said today, we're going to cut taxes on everyone, across the country, by 20%. including the top 1%. >> reporter: last night? >> i will not reduce the share paid by high income individuals. i know that you and your running mate keep saying that and i know it's a popular thing to say with a lot of people, but it's just not the case. >> reporter: but on those regulations, dodd-frank, the new rules meant to prevent another

financial collapse, romney often simply says -- >> i've got other things to do. we've got to repeal dodd-frank. >> reporter: but last night? >> you have to have regulation and there's some parts of dodd-frank that make all the sense in the world. >> reporter: and on the president's health care law, romney usually simply says this. >> if your priority is jobs, you got to get rid of obama care, and i will. >> reporter: but last night, when asked what he would replace it with? >> in fact, i do have a plan that deals with people with pre-existing conditions, that's part of my health care plan. >> reporter: now, we have asked the romney campaign repeatedly if under romney, would there be a federal law protecting people who don't have jobs with pre-existing conditions, allowing them to get insurance, and we've been told that there would be no federal law, it would be turned over to the states. diane, i also wanted to point out that we hired a lip reader overnight, to look at that moment on the stage, president obama and mitt romney on the stage. look at this tonight. president obama walking up to mitt romney, saying, good job, romney saying, thank you, thank you. the president saying, good, good, we'll do more of this. it would seem to appear that one of those men knew who won last night, diane.

>> okay, david muir reporting in. time to bring in co-anchor of "good morning america," anchor of "this week," george stephanopoulos. bottom line, george, did that night affect this race for sure? >> reporter: no question about it. it got mitt romney back in this game. it gives him momentum. it gives him confidence. after a month of being on defense, he is on offense right now. and both campaigns expect the national polls to tighten. over the next several days. maybe see mitt romney go ahead. but here's the big question, diane. will you see the same kind of movement in these key battleground states, especially ohio, where president obama is ahead right now? these are the voters who get ads every day, who see the candidates every day. will they move in the same direction? that's the big question. >> so, over the next few days, how bad does the president think it was and what is he going to do? >> reporter: the president knows he lost last night. came out fighting today. he and his team know he's got to bring it in the next debate. he's got to answer mitt romney face-to-face. >> all right, george, thank you so much.

and we have a footnote for everyone. you and i talked about it last night, about the star of last night's debate, who was not on the stage. we are talking big bird. as jake told us, under threat from governor romney of losing financing, a torrent of creative people took to the internet about the bird today. and these were our favorites. will work for food. today is brought to you by the letter u, for unemployed. and this tweet, directly from big bird, reminding us he's about 6 years old, quote, "my bedtime is usually 7:45, but i was really tired and fell asleep at 7:00. did i miss anything?" and now, we turn and we have breaking news to tell you about tonight. american airlines, grounding planes after three of their planes were forced to land because rows of seats were coming unbolted in midair. abc's senior national correspondent jim avila now telling us the latest. jim? >> reporter: diane, american tonight grounded half its fleet

of 757s, its domestic long-range workhorse, taken out of service for a second round of faa monitored fixes to prevent passenger seats from becoming dislodged in the air. at one point, one of them even turned over backwards into the row behind it. the airline's engineering team has decided the locking mechanism that secures the seat to the floor must be enhanced. it's another setback for american, which suffered record delays in september, for what it blamed on labor troubles, claiming its pilots intentionally caused delays twice as often as its competitors, something the pilots' union has denied. the seat trouble has racheted things up to now a safety issue. the seats on three flights came unhinged. just yesterday, american said it finished its inspections but now is ordering mechanics to fix the seats again, wherever the 48 planes involved land next, anywhere in the country. a move that will cause cancellations and more delays through saturday for american. diane? >> all right, jim, thank you, on this breaking news. and now we have a number

on financial news that is worth paying attention to. 2.69%. that is now the new record low for a 15-year fixed mortgage. the rate on a 30-year loan is down to 3.36%. that is good news for anyone looking to buy a home or refinance. we also have a note from overseas, and the new threat that the turmoil in syria will spread to a nato ally, turkey. turkey unleashed a hailstorm of shells on syria today, in retaliation for a mortar attack, from syria, that killed five civilians including women and children. today, turkey's parliament approved, quote, further military strikes. the turkish prime minister tweeting, "we do not want war with syria but will protect our borders and retaliate when necessary." and back here at home, a health alert. the cdc warning about a growing outbreak of meningitis. at least five people have now

died, 35 cases across six states. some patients suffering from stroke, stroke-like symptoms. the cause? apparently, tainted steroid shots for back pain. nearly 9 million americans use them, so, which ones are believed to be putting people at risk? here's abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: doctors worry this outbreak of fungal meningitis is spreading, potentially affecting more than 1,000 americans recently treated for back pain. with needles that were tainted by a fungus during manufacturing. >> the contaminated medication was a steroid. it was put into a syringe. >> reporter: anyone who has received a steroid injection in the spine since july should check with their doctor to see if it's from a tainted source. >> early anti-fungal treatment can improve the outcome of these patients. >> reporter: ground zero is this specialty pharmacy in massachusetts, where the steroid injections were made. investigators shut down the new england compounding center, but it may have shipped to 23 states.

doctors say this is a rare form of meningitis, with symptoms that are easily missed and it kills by swelling the brain. it is not contagious, but early symptoms can be headaches, fever, a stiff neck and it can take anywhere from a week to a month to develop. so, health officials are on high alert. steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. and still ahead right here on "world news," how you can make an extra $3,000 selling that old car in your driveway. new tricks to put cash in your pocket. it's real money, coming up next. want to try to crack it? yeah, that's the way to do it! now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passions... because the results... are you having fun doing this? yeah.

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swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. it is real money. tonight, our ongoing series on ways to put thousands of dollars in your pocket. and, last week, we showed you how to add $34,000 to the value of the family home. tonight, we turn to selling your car. the market is booming. and about 37 million used cars are sold every year. so, can we show you ways to raise the value again? here's abc's sharyn alfonsi. >> reporter: meet the gross family. new baby and a car seat. it's pretty clear, the old sports car has to go. >> the way the car seat is, nobody else fits. >> reporter: a dealer offered him $4,000, but brian thinks the car is worth more. so he's doing what so many of us

have to do. he's going to try to sell it himself. he's been putting up signs, listing it online. but two months later -- how many calls have you gotten? >> zero. >> reporter: zero. zero calls. this is critical. so, we brought in auto trader's brian moody. he says it starts with the obvious cosmetics. the coins, the traces of dog fur need to go. and lose the junk in the trunk. even that kitschy key chain. >> yeah, i would ditch that. >> reporter: life's not about reaching your destination, but enjoying the trip. that actually sounds like ti would be good for selling a car. >> right, but i now picture this being a girl's car. >> reporter: and something i didn't know, have a woman take a whiff. turns out, we have a better sense of smell. it's a little funky but it's not awful. so we get to work. hot rims, whoa! the car now sparkling, we move onto the real secret of selling your car online. those pictures. there are problems here, only five posted. and look at them. brian says the steering wheel needs to be straightened out.

the sunroof closed. and these other cars need to go. key number one, pictures are everything. think outside, in a park, and every angle. then there's the text of the ad. >> is a blast to drive! this is it! >> reporter: six exclamation points in four lines. you're really excited about selling it. brian says lose the exclamation point, the all caps and, instead, offer details about the car. key number two, spelling counts. why does that matter? >> they want to think you are taking as much care in your ad as you have with the car. >> reporter: next, we bring in nicole markson, who has sold thousands of cars. she says individual sellers actually have an advantage over the pros. >> people, they are afraid to go to a dealership. so, you really want to make them feel as warm and comfortable with you, because if somebody doesn't like you, they're not going to buy from you. >> reporter: and key number three, don't ignore her. look her in the eye. 85% of big buying decisions are made by the woman. so, will all this work? days later, the new ad is being

viewed twice as many times as the old one. and remember that first offer, $4,000? well, now we've got a new one. $7,000. nearly double. >> thank you "world news!" >> reporter: but they're going to wait. they think they might actually get an even higher offer. we will see. >> on a roll, they are. okay, sharyn. but you wanted to tell everyone about something you think is another big mistake being made out there? >> the biggest mistake is that people price it too high. you look at the blue book value. forget that. the blue book value is a national average. you have should look to see what your car is selling for in your area. do your homework, look in the local newspaper, check it out and price it correctly. >> the first time. okay, thank you. real money, sharyn alfonsi. good to see you again. and coming up right here, a new dinosaur, we're seeing for the first time. could change the way you think about the prehistoric beasts. tt,

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heartburn symptoms causedelieve by acid reflux disease.ge, osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels have been seen with nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. talk to your doctor about nexium. there is a quote that caught our eye today. a message from the little rover that could, called "curiosity." it sent us a kind of interplanetary postcard, talking about its landing on mars. quote, "mars is cold, dry and rocky. extra moisturizer and sturdy shoes would be a good idea, plus oxygen for those of you who breathe." the rover checked in, giving

travel advice, using foursquare, the social networking app. and the first check-in, ever, from another planet. a name in the news today. miguel cabrera making baseball history, the first triple crown winner in nearly half a century. the first latino ever. it's an illusive prize, a combination of hits, homers and runs batted in. baseball greats from babe ruth to joe dimaggio never reached this milestone. and a picture in the news tonight. a brand new dinosaur. we're seeing it for the first time. called pegomastax africanus. its bones were found in the slate of a rock in south africa and it looks ferocious, but guess what? take another look. it is more chihuahua than t-rex. about as big as a house cat. small enough, maybe, to chew on your ankles. a beak about the size of a parrot. and not sure he could hold his

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and finally tonight, john, paul, george and ringo. it might be hard to believe it, but it was 50 years ago when the beatles came together to release their very first hit, "love me do." they would record more than 200 other songs over the years. but as abc's david wright takes us back, it's to the moment this sound first sailed out across the airwaves. ♪ >> reporter: the song that would change rock and roll history almost didn't. ♪ love love me do ♪ you know i love you >> reporter: this was supposed to be the beatles debut single. ♪ how do you do ♪ what you do to me >> reporter: "how do you do it." by mitch murray. the beatles hated it.

they begged to record one of their own songs. they did three takes. john, paul, george and pete best. then pete was out, ringo came in. then, a guy named andy white came in, ringo, demoted to tambourine. ♪ so please ♪ love me do >> reporter: that's the version on their first american single. timeless? we think so. ♪ i know i love you come on! ♪ i'll always be true ♪ so please ♪ love me do >> reporter: but to double check, today, we asked the experts at robert louis stevenson elementary school. mrs. goulding's fourth and fifth grade class. and we're going to play a game called "name that tune." the beatles are their grandparents' music. one hand shot up straight away. but for a lot of others, blank stares. >> do you have any green day songs? >> reporter: it may not be on their ipods, but they couldn't resist the beat.

♪ love me do >> reporter: david wright, abc news, los angeles. >> their grandparents' music? oh, no. thank you for watching. we're always here at abcnews.com. "nightline" later. i'll see you again tomorrow night. good night. tonight a changing of the guard in the catholic church. he's touched off dissenter autos in sacramento, nearly a million rural residents are getting a $150 a year bill for fire services. a new losses says that is

illegal. >> an unusual homicide investigation tonight. the neighborhood dispute that led to the arrest of a 65-year-old man for the murder of his best friend. >> and abc 7 news coverage gets results and the reunion of a girl and her stolen puppy. >> here are the people who protested the installation today of the new archbishop for san francisco. a man opposing same-sex marriage. good evening, everyone, i'm carolyn johnson. >> his controversial stance on that issue made him a hero to some, and a villain to others. the 56-year-old was installed today as the new archbishop. and we're live with the ceremony, and the controversial. >>